Degradation of the tensile property of carbon-fiber/epoxy laminated plates irradiated by laser

Abstract

This research aimed to study the relationship between the ablation and the tensile strength change of Carbon-fiber/epoxy composite under laser irradiation. It was performed on Carbon/epoxy laminates using both experimental and numerical modeling methods. The sample thickness was 2mm. A 1070 nm continuous wave laser was chosen as the irradiation source. In order to obtain different ablation states of the sample, the power and exposure time of the laser were changed to set up different experimental conditions. The tensile strength of ablated samples was measured to investigate the degradation tendency of tensile strength. The results show that the degradation curve of tensile strength versus laser intensity and irradiation time follows the inversed power-law. This is to say, the tensile strength decreases rapidly as the laser intensity and irradiation time increases. The mathematical model has been developed to analyze the temperature of surface and the changing tendency of tensile strength. The modeling results match experimental data well.